A Yamanaka Morning
by vspepper
Summary: Just a short slice of life story about the Yamanaka family.
SaiIno has definitely been growing on me the past couple of weeks, and I really just wanted to write something for them, since there isn't really a lot out there. Also, it helps ease the writer's block I have with my sasusaku fic that's still a wip. But anyway. I really hope you guys enjoy this story. Please r&r! I love getting feedback! Thanks

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

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Sai was the first in the family to wake up, but that's how it always was. He never slept in long enough for the alarm to wake him. He was a light sleeper, and the sun shining through the blinds was enough to get him out of bed. The way it also reflected off of Ino's pale golden hair was enough to make his day start off wonderfully, knowing that she was here, that he wasn't alone anymore. He rolled onto his side and wrapped his arms around her loosely, pulling her body closer to his.

She gave him a tiny "Mm," as he moved her body, still mostly asleep. A groggy smile pulling at her lips. "Good morning," he said gently, kissing the shell of her ear and her cheek. "Morning," she mumbled back, reaching a hand back to touch his face. Sai grasped her wrist gently and brought her palm to his lips, kissing it softly. He could tell by the way it was limp in hand that she had fallen back asleep, so he placed it back on her stomach.

"I'm going to get Inojin ready," he whispered, kissing her ear again. Ino made a small sound of protest when she felt his weight leave the bed, and groggily reached for him before she fell back asleep. Sai smiled, taking a moment to caress her cheek with his finger before quietly exiting their bedroom. As he walked down towards Inojin's room, he made a mental list of what he needed to do this morning before his son went to school and he went to work. He stopped outside the door that was covered with drawings and crafts, tiny gifts from his friends and things he made. It always made Sai's heart swell, seeing that his son took after his own love for art. Having a child to begin with made him happy, but having something in common with that child made him even happier.

And the fact the he looked like him didn't hurt either.

Slowly, he opened the door to Inojin's room. Being very quiet as to not disturb the little one sleeping in his bed. Sai huffed out a quiet laugh when his eyes fell on his son. He slept just like his mother, on his back with limbs outstretched. His skinny ankle and wrist dangling off the edge and out from under his blanket. "What a vulnerable way to sleep," he thought. But that was a good thing in Sai's eyes. His son felt safe in his home, safe enough to fall asleep in such a way. He didn't have to worry about someone coming in the middle of the night and slamming his stomach with a rod and knocking the air out of him for being so open to attack, or placing a cold kunai at his throat to teach that he should never sleep facing up.

No, Inojin would not have to go through any of what his father went through as child, and to him, that was perfect. His son would never be in root. Not only because it had been dissolved, but because Sai would sooner die than let his son go through what he did. He ran his fingers through the boy's soft blonde hair, noting how it had grown to his tiny shoulders. Sai knelt down and kissed his forehead. "Inojin, it's time to wake up."

The boy stirred, but didn't wake. "Come on, you have to get ready for school," he said gently, lightly shaking the boy's shoulders. Again he stirred, but didn't wake, wiggling his body further under the blankets. As much as he hated it, Sai had to do things the hard way. Well, hard by his standards. Slipping his hands under Inojin's back, he began lifting the boy out from under the covers. In response, Inojin turned his body to face his father and wrapped his arms loosely and sleepily around his father's neck, whining into Sai's chest, eyes still closed. "Can't I just stay home with mom today?"

Sai chuckled softly, pushing the sheets down and preceding to carry Inojin out of his room as though he were a baby. One arm tucked under his skinny knees and the other around his torso. It made Sai happy to baby and spoil Inojin this way, and he'll probably keep carrying him this way until he physically can't anymore. "You know your mom wouldn't be happy about that," he said. Inojin placed his forehead on his father's shoulder and huffed in disappointment. "She seems to be mad about everything lately. She whines more than me, and I'm twelve." Sai could hear the pout in his son's voice, but it still made him smile.

"She is very hormonal," he agreed. He opened the door to the boy's bathroom and let him down carefully. Yes, his son was a ninja, a soon to be chunin in fact, but to Sai he was still his baby, so he treated him as such. Rubbing his eye with one hand and reaching for his toothbrush with the other, Inojin along with his father began their morning routine. Sai combed through his son's hair with his fingers, then with a comb. Inojin knew how to comb his own hair, but he also knew how much his father loved doing it so he never complained. The small smile on his father's face made him disregard the fact that he was a little too rough detangling the knots. His mom always joked about his father loving their Yamanaka hair, but now Inojin knew it was a fact.

"How come lately you've been getting me ready instead of mom?" Inojin said with a mouthful of toothpaste foam. "She's been very tired these few months. She needs more time to sleep and restore herself," he answered as he tied up his son's hair. "Is it because she's pregnant?" Inojin asked before spitting out the foam and rinsing his mouth. "Yes, that's exactly why." Sai finished putting his son's hair in a tiny bun so that it didn't get wet when he showered. He inherited his mother's hair, and while beautiful, Yamanaka hair took what felt like days to dry.

"When's the baby coming?" Inojin asked, slipping his toothbrush back into the holder. "In two months, three at the longest." Sai answered with hair pins between his lips, clipping back his son's long bangs. The boy laughed as he stretched his arms and back. "She's so huge, the baby must be really big." Sai smiled. "That's a good thing. It means the baby is healthy."

"Was I a healthy baby?" his son asked casually, craning his neck to look up at his father. Sai's smile faltered slightly, as he remembered the tribulation of Ino's pregnancy with Inojin was. Not only had it been hard to conceive, but along the way, they'd lost a few. They tried over and over with no luck. Spent countless days with doctors and specialists, and nothing seemed to work. Nothing in this world could have hurt Sai more than the cries and sobs she'd let out over the toilet as she threw up, screaming curses at her body and asking what was wrong with it. And he felt horribly helpless, as he had no idea how to fix the problem. She'd tell him how she was sorry that she was so incomplete, and he'd always tell her that she was wrong, and that she was everything to him, with or without child.

Then, when they conceived Inojin, they couldn't have been happier, but the difficulties hadn't ended there. Ino bled on and off in her first two months, went into labor in the fifth month and had been bed ridden after that. But, amazingly, she carried Inojin to term, and while he'd been a tiny baby, he was healthy. It was still hard to believe that their little baby was now twelve years old. "Yes, you absolutely were," Sai said emphatically, bending to kiss the boy's cheek. "Now, get washed up and your mom and I will make breakfast, okay?"

His son nodded, and began undressing as Sai closed the door. As Sai walked back to his and Ino's room, he couldn't shake the feeling of gratefulness. He was so happy that the universe, after putting them through so much, decided to grant them this easy pregnancy. So happy that the second time trying to conceive was so quick and painless. And it was true, she was bigger than she'd been with Inojin, but Sai didn't care. She was still Ms. Beautiful to him. As he opened the door, he saw that Ino was already awake, sitting cross legged and stretching her arms in the air.

She let out a pained whimper, then stretched out her arms when her eyes landed on him, signaling that she wanted to be held. "Sai, baby. Come here," she said tiredly, her voice still raspy from sleep. He loved when she called him that. He loved when she called him anything sweet really, but when she put his name in front of it, it made things all the better.

Sai walked to her and wrapped his arms around her waist as much as he could. Ino wrapped hers around his neck, nuzzling and humming contently into his shoulder. "I love you," she said, her words being muffled by his shirt. "I love you too," he said, placing a hand gently, almost cautiously on her stomach." Ino hummed one more time, then lifted her head to look into his dark eyes. "You're still so handsome, after dealing with me all these years." He smiled and placed his thumb on her lips, smoothing it back and forth. "You keep me young," he said softly. They both loved these hushed conversations in the morning, which have been occurring more frequently as her due date approached. She placed a kiss on the corner of his mouth, then moved to place one on his lips. Sai moaned softly into the kiss, sliding both arms back around her waist.

His kisses were more like nibbles, touching then disconnecting, only to connect again and repeat the pattern. Ino knew he liked to keep things light in the morning, since they both were usually too tired. But this morning she felt invigorated and a little friskier than normal.

She pressed the tip of her tongue to his lips, but he pulled away, breaking the connection. "Tease," Ino said with a pout. Sai rubbed the tip of his nose to hers, taking some time to let this moment sink in, then leaned away. "We have things to do, love." Ino sighed her agreement, and let Sai tenderly pull her out of bed. Once on her feet, she placed her hands on her lower back and winced. "God, when is this baby going to come out?" she said with a happy but pained smile. Her husband moved behind her and replaced her hands with his, massaging her back with his thumbs as they walked to the kitchen.

"I'm going to be home later than usual. I'm helping train some new jounins, and we'll be out passed the outskirts," he said softly into her ear, moving his hands from her back to her stomach. "Oh really? That's awesome. Just don't go too hard on them like you did last time," she responded, tilting her head into his chest. "Mm," was the only promise he made to that. "What are you doing for the night?" he asked as they reached the kitchen.

"Sakura is going to come over and we're going to do some fun baby shower planning. She's pregnant again too, which is hilarious. It's like we're still competing with each other, even if we're not aware of it." "Are you happy for her?" he asked cautiously.

"Of course I am. Sakura's been wanting more kids since Sarada was eight months old. And from what she told me, that's all her and Sasuke have been doing since he came back. I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner. Even Hinata told me how when she went over, he couldn't keep his hands off Sakura."

Sai chuckled, nuzzling Ino's neck and planting a soft kiss on her shoulders. "So, he and I are more alike than I thought," he whispered hotly against her skin. "So you're saying you can't keep your hands off me?" Ino flirted back. "Never," he breathed into her ear, making her squirm from ticklishness.

"Good morning, mom," they heard their son say, making them turn their heads toward him. Momentarily breaking them from their morning flirtations. Inojin emerged from his bathroom fully dressed and his hair still in a bun, his bangs still cutely tucked back with clips. "There's my big baby. Good morning," Ino greeted him before smothering him in her bosom. "You're the only one who's big around here, mom," the boy said with a laugh, his words being muffled by the hug. "What are you trying to say?" Ino asked in irritation. "Nothing, just that you're big because you're pregnant," Inojin said, trying to make it to the table before she scolded him in the scary way she did.

"He got that from you," Ino said to her husband as she also sat down at the table. But just as quickly as it had been said, she forgot about it. Neither of them could stay mad at their little boy.

Once in the kitchen, the Yamanakas soon got into the rhythm of their routine. Sai made pancakes and eggs for his son, earning protest from his wife. "He's going to get fat if you make his breakfast so decadent all the time," she said before sipping her tea. As usual, Sai ignored her comment, as he enjoyed spoiling his son. Like most people thought, he was definitely the softer parent of the two. Unable to say no to his son most of the time, relying on his wife to deal out punishments and consequences.

"Who are you training with after school today, honey?" Ino asked her son, who was stuffing his face full of his father's pancakes, making his mother a little queasy. He finished chewing, took a drink of his milk, and then answered with an excited tone. "Shikadai's mom is going to help us learn our chakra natures. It's going to be so cool!" Ino's brow quirked upwards. She had nothing against Temari, but it was easier to say that they disagreed on many things, the biggest being on how to train kids. "Oh, well I hope it goes well." Her son nodded and she took another sip of her tea. "Shikadai told me that she must be pregnant too, because she's always being bossy like how you are with dad." Sai placed his hand on Ino's preemptively to keep her in her seat. She'd never strike Inojin, but she would scold him, which held just as much power as a physical blow.

"Finish up, son. You have to be at school in ten minutes." Sai said sweetly. He nodded and finished his food, then his milk. Sai placed the dishes in the sink, then leaned against the counter's edge. "Come here, honey," Ino said to her son, calling him over with a tilt of her head. Inojin walked over, and he knew the drill. He faced his mother as she took the clips out his hair and undid his bun, even though she thought it was adorable. "Thanks mom," he said, running his fingers through his hair, then putting it back up into a ponytail of his liking. "You're welcome, now get your stuff." He nodded and walked back to his room to collect his school bag and scrolls.

Sai and his wife caught eyes, and stared at each other as their son got ready to leave. Ino was still so beautiful after all these years. She didn't look a day over twenty five, and still blushed when he looked at her for too long, like he was now. He wondered if she knew that she had the same effect on him. "Ino," he said softly, calling her to come over. Ino stood up and waddled over to her husband, pressing her body to his. Sai responded by placing his hands on her hips and pressing his lips to hers, kissing her deeply.

Inojin, after spending time with his friends' parents, knew at this point that his were a little…too affectionate. But honestly, it never bothered him, he was used to seeing his parents with pink marks on their necks and caressing each other, whispering sweet nothings and kissing for at least a straight five minutes before they made the decision to take things to their room. "Mom, dad. I'm going now," he said from the foyer. "Not before I get a kiss," his mother said playfully, turning slightly in his father's arms. She beckoned him with her hand and walked over with a sigh. "I think I'm getting too old for kisses, mom," he pouted as she kissed his cheek. His father kissed his other cheek and Inojin sighed again.

"There's no such thing as being too old for kisses, is there babe?" She said to his father, who shook his head, then kissed her. Inojin rolled his eyes, but couldn't pretend that he didn't like these moments. He said good bye to his parents and left for school. Sai began getting ready for work and Ino hopped in the shower with him, and things went on as they usually did. It was just another morning with the Yamanakas.

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Thanks so much for reading!


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